Milo & Judah

Chapter 6 - Perception Isn't Reality

When Milo and Judah returned to the house, Mercer was already there, back from his escapades with Alana. "Where have you been?" Mercer asked, mildly irritated.

"Your brother took me to the beach," Judah said, still chuckling from the stupid joke Milo told as they entered.

"I've been sitting here alone for like an hour."

Milo felt irrationally protective over Judah. His brother had no right to be upset. He dropped his backpack on the floor with heavy thud and stepped in front of Judah. "You're the one who abandoned him in a strange place, with people he barely knows, all so you could go have sex with a girl you hate."

"Whatever." Mercer cleared his throat. He looked at Judah. "Do you want to go get something to eat? My mom called and said she's not going to be home for a couple more hours."

"Um, yeah, sure," Judah said. "Milo was telling me about this great Mexican place. He claims it's the best in California. I have my doubts. I mean, he can't possibly have tried every Mexican restaurant in the state."

Judah gave Milo a small nudge. Milo pressed his lips tightly to keep from smiling, worried it might betray his feelings.

Mercer groaned and scrunched his nose. "I'm not really in the mood for Mexican. I'd rather have burgers."

"That's fine. But I need to shower first."

"Just hurry." Mercer growled.

Judah scurried up the stairs without another word.

Meanwhile, Milo followed Mercer into the living room. Mercer sat on the sofa and started scrolling through Netflix on the television.

Milo walked around to stand between Mercer and the screen. "What's wrong with you? Why are being such a dick to your friend?"

"Why do you care?"

Milo scoffed, bewildered and unsure what to say. "I just... do. You're my brother."

"You were right. Hooking up with Alana was a bad idea." Mercer tossed the remote onto the cushion beside him and sank back into the couch. He blew out a heavy breath.

Milo barked out a surprised laugh. "I'm sorry." He crossed his arms over his chest. "What was that?"

"You heard me damn well."

"Yeah, but I kinda thought I might be hallucinating. You never admit when you're wrong."

After a moment of silent satisfaction at being proved right, Milo went over. He paused before sitting down, thinking twice about sitting on the sofa. His mother would be furious if he got sand on it. Instead, he sat on the coffee table.

Milo patted Mercer's knee. "Tell me what happened."

Mercer shook his head. "It just brought up a lot of stuff I thought I'd gotten over."

"Like her betrayal? Or..." Milo trailed off. He wanted to let Mercer talk it out.

"I mean, that, yeah. But also how I used to feel before that." Mercer's eyes flicked up to stare at Milo. "I sound pathetic."

Mercer folded over his knees and gripped his head in his hands. "For Christ's sake, she cheated on me! How can I still want her this much, after this long? And after what she did."

Milo shrugged. "I don't know. How come seeing the boy who broke my heart holding hands with someone else seven months later can still upset me so much?"

Mercer sat up straight. His concerned eyes found Milo's. "You saw Hunter?"

Milo nodded. "With his new boyfriend."

"I'm sorry, dude. I know how that feels."

Milo sighed. "I don't even want him back. It just sucks that he moved on and found somebody else, and I still haven't." Milo's eyes jumped to the stairs, conjuring thoughts of Judah holding him in his arms and that kiss on the cheek. How easy it was to let loose with Judah.

Mercer laid his hand on Milo's shoulder, snapping him back to reality. "You will. And he'll be ten times the man that Hunter was. And he'll see what an amazing guy you are. He'll know he's lucky to be with you."

"Jesus!" Milo rubbed his hands over his face and groaned loudly. "We are quite the pair. A couple of idiots, whining over people that didn't want us."

Mercer laughed. "You speak facts, little brother."

"Okay." Milo stood up. "I'm going to see if the shower's free yet. I'm starting to feel crusty."

"You kinda smell crusty, too." Mercer waved his hand in front of his nose.

"Shut up!" Milo swiped at his brother, but Mercer ducked out of the way.

Entering his bedroom, Milo discovered Judah kneeling over his suitcase in his boxers.

Judah paused and raised a single brow. "Did Mercer send you to hurry me?"

"I just wanted to get cleaned up." Milo pointed to the bathroom.

Judah sighed and returned to scanning his clothes. He grabbed a shirt and some shorts before closing it. He slid it back against the wall, out of the way.

"Don't be too hard on Mercer," Milo said. "He just lashes out when he's hurt."

Judah paused, showing genuine concern. "What happened?"

Milo gave a brief summary of his talk with Mercer.

"That sucks," Judah said as he got dressed. "It took me a forever to get over my high school girlfriend."

And there it was. Confirmation that Milo's affection wouldn't be reciprocated. All his musing about Judah being flirty at the beach was just an idiotic delusion. Milo had projected his own desires onto Judah's actions.

Looking back at it objectively, knowing this about Judah, it became clear what happened. Everything with Hunter was just Judah being a nice guy. He was helping Milo out of a tricky situation.

Honestly, even if Judah was also into guys—which was possible, even if Milo emphatically didn't believe that to be the case here—it wasn't like it would matter. He didn't know why he ever even entertained the notion. Someone like Judah would never want someone like Milo. Hunter didn't want him. He threw Milo away at his first opportunity, and he'd known Milo almost his entire life. Why should Milo believe that the hot guy he just met would have any interest in such a neurotic mess? It didn't make sense.

"You better hurry," Judah said.

The words broke Milo out of his daze. "What?"

"Unless you want to deal with Mercer's wrath."

Judah must have sensed that Milo was still confused, because he clarified: "You're coming with us to eat, right?"

"Oh." Milo sighed. He hadn't even considered whether he was going or not.

Now, he definitely didn't feel up for it, disheartened by this new discovery about Judah. "I'm kinda tired. I think I'll just stay here. Maybe take a nap."

Judah's brows knitted together. "Okay, then."

Milo turned around and went to his dresser to pick out some clean clothes.

"I'll see you later," Judah said. He sounded a bit disappointed.

Milo wondered if that was in his head. Once again perceiving what he wanted. But Milo wouldn't let himself go there again. He'd already wasted enough time on this fantasy.